Half of US adults have first vaccination: https://apnews.com/article/politics-anthony-fauci-coronavirus-pandemic-infectious-diseases-coronavirus-vaccine-6e3b18b44a05d1e49ed35337ec7ce969 . About 1/3 of all adults are fully vaccinated.
US widens vaccination lead: https://apnews.com/article/us-near-200-million-coronavirus-vaccine-shot-2bc06799e4709d69acc67e0e16047ad6 . France, India and Japan see surges.
AstraZeneca variant vaccine planned by end of this year: https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/astrazeneca-could-have-covid-19-vaccine-against-variant-by-end-2021-austrian-2021-04-18/ .
US study identifies the human genes that fight COVID: https://www.ctvnews.ca/health/coronavirus/u-s-study-identifies-the-genes-that-fight-coronavirus-infections-1.5392168 . This study builds out the role of interferon in fighting COVID.
EU may not reorder AstraZeneca vaccine: https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-eu-hints-it-might-not-order-astrazeneca-jab-again/a-57246178 .
WSJ: Sinovac vaccine is underperforming in Chile: https://www.wsj.com/articles/first-dose-of-chinese-covid-19-vaccine-offers-little-protection-chile-learns-11618775502 . The Russian/Chinese vaccine diplomacy may backfire with poor results.
WSJ: J&J pause rationale shifting: https://www.wsj.com/articles/j-j-covid-19-vaccine-was-paused-over-blood-clot-treatment-concerns-11618777554 . This appears to be an attempt to address the growing vaccine skepticism created by the pause. The shifting message could have the opposite result.
Dr. Gottlieb on the variants: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/transcript-scott-gottlieb-discusses-coronavirus-on-face-the-nation-april-18-2021/ . Dr. Gottlieb is well-informed. However, his closing comments are logically inconsistent. Suppose Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are effective against the UK variant but less effective against other variants. In that situation, the UK variant will not crowd out the other variants. Also, we know a person can be infected by more than one variant. There is greater variant risk than his comments reflect.
WSJ: Researchers race to understand clotting risks: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-vaccines-and-rare-blood-clots-are-women-at-greater-risk-11618747200 .
UK to commence reinfection challenge trial: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/new-uk-challenge-trial-studies-if-people-can-catch-coronavirus-again-2021-04-18/ . Since this does not involve variants, it may be reasonably safe. Hopefully no long-haulers will come out of this. WSJ: More: https://www.wsj.com/articles/covid-19-challenge-trial-will-purposely-reinfect-adults-11618786860 .
New Delhi’s positive test rate now 30%: https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-under-siege-covid-19-hospitals-overwhelmed-2021-04-18/ . This is an incredible crisis, especially when you consider that India is the world’s major vaccine producer.
Iran faces new surge: https://apnews.com/article/travel-iran-health-coronavirus-pandemic-tehran-3043ca00791c869e557e2a36a37e9a42 .
WSJ: Opioid trial set to begin Monday: https://www.wsj.com/articles/drugmakers-go-on-trial-over-opioid-epidemic-11618758002 . You would think settlement would have been a better option for the drugmakers than trial.
WSJ: The disparity between US economic recovery and jobs recovery: https://www.wsj.com/articles/economic-growth-is-set-to-surge-hiring-might-not-keep-up-11618738202 . The hiring recovery may be even slower due to the growth of remote work and new models of work automation.
How do you “transition” coal country?: https://www.politico.com/news/2021/04/18/coal-country-revitalization-biden-482659 . From my experience with blue-collar work and my visits to West Virginia, this plan will not work. Coal is collapsing because liquid natural gas is cleaner and cheaper. If coal did come back, it would do so with highly automated mining. So these jobs are gone either way.
Mining work does not naturally transition to solar panel production. These people need better black lung care (many don’t seek treatment because they fear losing their jobs). Estimates are that cases are 10 times the number of claimants. So the coal bankruptcies will likely accelerate claims. The miners need retraining assistance and potentially relocation assistance.
As to the West Virginia economy, the state’s forests are beautiful and have considerable tourism potential. There is considerable work to do to decommission mines and restore strip mining damage. The miners do have appropriate skills for this work.
WSJ: Is a smaller, bipartisan infrastructure bill in the works?: https://www.wsj.com/articles/top-republican-says-senate-gop-could-be-open-to-smaller-infrastructure-bill-11618772453 . Generally speaking, it would be bad politics for the Democrats to split this bill. It will be more controversial (and more difficult) to pass the second bill on a Democratic-only vote (reconciliation). We’ll see what the talks produce.
Brexit sucks: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/16/brexit-deal-bad-evidence-trade . This British opinion piece is a month old, but still spot on. The 41% drop cited by the writer is a figure exaggerated by the last-minute deal, and will mostly recover over the next two years. However, the deal remains structurally insane. The world continues to move toward global trade. Britain is an island, but not an economic one. The writer is correct that Britain’s only way out is frictionless trade with the EU. They lack the leadership (in any party) to do that before economics forces their hand.
Minnesota Gestapo promises not to illegally detain media: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-minnesota-shooting-idCAKBN2C5016 . Given that they’re already violated a court order, one would hope the governor’s intervention will put a stop to this unconstitutional behavior.
Insurrectionists pursue journalist defense: https://apnews.com/article/capitol-siege-media-journalism-riots-social-media-70192823f35380b860b6f2708904bc5c . Uh-huh. So we now speak in code even in the mainstream media. “They face long odds” means “Can you believe this crock of bull crap?” These people were obviously not credentialed. Their defense really is, we were just sheep along for the ride. Don’t punish me because I’m an idiot and made a few bad choices. The other side is, you participated in a felony where people died. You are guilty of felony murder. The law will likely meet somewhere in the middle based on individual circumstances.
Congress’ grip on reality weakens: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trumps-grip-on-gop-looms-as-support-falters-for-independent-probe-of-capitol-riot/ar-BB1fMcZ1?li=BBnb7Kz . Political maneuvering may overcome the facts. We all saw the insurrection live on TV, the videotape and the results. Dragnet with Jack Webb as Joe Friday – “Just the facts, ma’am” – debuted in 1967. Over 50 years later, we are regressing away from obvious truths.
Political analysis for the morning talk shows hit two key points. First, the party in power typically loses seats and control in the off-year election – we all know that. But second, Chuck Todd pointed out that the highest percentage turnout groups in the off-year elections are well-educated voters. That is the precise group that moved to Democrats from Republicans in 2020. There is some hope for the Democrats next year, especially with the number of Republican retirements.
WSJ: Soccer greed: https://www.wsj.com/articles/europe-top-soccer-clubs-super-league-11618773385 . There is no doubt that the motivator is more money for the most popular clubs. Is this intended as pressure to alter existing revenue allocation in order to continue the existing structure?
WSJ: Rolling Stone now owns half of South by Southwest: https://www.wsj.com/articles/south-by-southwest-stake-is-sold-to-owner-of-rolling-stone-in-effort-to-keep-festival-alive-11618797941 .
NASA Mars helicopter may fly Monday: https://www.space.com/mars-helicopter-ingenuity-ready-for-first-flight . This is incredible stuff which will revolutionize the way we explore Mars in the future – if it works. Does helium have enough lift in that atmosphere to permit a blimp?